Box-opener.



O; L. CURTIS.

BOX OPENER. APPLICATION FILBD MAY 29, 1908. RENEWED JAN. 1*}, 1910.

Patented Feb. 22

UNITED STATES PATN CHARLES L.

CURTIS, OF NEW YORK, N. Y., ASSIGNOR TO HERCULEVER (30., OF

NEW YORK, N. Y., A CORPORATION OF NEW YORK.

BOX-OPENER.

Application filed May 29, 1908, Serial No. 435,649.

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, CHARLES L. CURTIS, a citizen of the United States, residing at New York, in the borough of Brooklyn, county of Kings, and State of New'York, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Box-Openers, of which the following is a specification.

This invention relates to an improved opener for boxes or cases, and more especially to certain improvements in the boxopener which was patented heretofore to Isaac N. Rogers on May 1, 1906, No. 819,316, whereby the operation and functioning of the box-opener are improved and the opening of boxes or cases greatly facilitated and expedited. v

The patented box-opener referred to consists of a rectangular rest-piece the vertical member of which rests against the outside of the box, and the horizontal beveled membox.

ber of which acts as a piercer or chisel for passin under the box-cover. Fulcrumed to a brac et of the rest-piece is a lifting lever provided with a recessed shorter member in front of the fulcrum fitting in a depression of the horizontal member of the rest-piece and registering with the correspondinglyshaped recess in the same. The longer member of the lever is provided with a handle at the outer end and with a sliding hammer for driving the chisel-member of the restpiece and the shorter member of the lever into position for lifting off the cover of the In driving in the rest-piece and lever it frequently happens that the shorter member of the lever-is raised out of position above the piercing member of the rest-piece, so that the quick driving in of the tool be tween the box-wall and cover is prevented. Another objection to the patented box-opener is the employment of a fiat spring for holding up the longer member of the lever, which spring soon gives out, and prevents thereby the very ob ect of the same, namely, the holding of the rest-piece against the shorter member of the lever.

The object of this invention is to avoid the objections of the box-opener referred to, and to increase 'the efficiency of the same so that it can be used with certainty and permit the opening of boxes and cases in a quick and reliable manner; and for this purpose the invention consists of a box-opener which comprises a rectangular rest-piece the Specification of Letters Eatent.

Patented Feb. 22, 1910.

Renewed January 14, 1910. Serial No. 538,101.

horizontal member of which is provided with a curved recess and a bracket extending above the horizontal member of the restpiece, a lever fulcrumed to said bracket and provided with a shorter or chisel member which extends over the horizontal member of the rest-piece, the chisel-member being provided at its under-side with depressions for the horizontal member of the rest-piece and at its forward-end with a tapering recess extending backwardly to the centrallycurved recess of the horizontal member of the rest-piece.

The invention consists further of the arrangement in the vertical member of the rest-piece of a socket for receiving a tubular and spring-actuated pin which engages a recess and abutment at the under-side of the lever adjacent to the fulcrum of the same, said spring-actuated slide-pin serving to hold the rest-piece in its proper position against the piercing or chisel member of the lever.

The invention consists further of the construction of the sliding hammer on the lever provided with a bell-shaped, enlargement at its inner end, by which the chisel-member is forcibly driven into the space between the box-body and cover without injury to the hand holding the lever; and the invention consists lastly of certain details of construction which will be fully described hereinafter and finally pointed out in the claims.

In the accompanying drawings, Figure 1 represents a side-elevation of my improved box-opener, showing it in position for opening a box, Fig. 2 is a plan-view of Fig. 1, with part of the box-cover cut away, and partly in section through the driving hammer on the lever, Fig. 3 is a top-view of the driving-end of the lever and rest-piece, drawn on a larger scale, Fig. 1 is a side-elevation of the driving-end of the hammer and rest-piece, also drawn on a larger scale, Fig. 5 is a vertical longitudinal section on line 5, 5, Fig. 3, Fig.6 is a vertical transverse section on line 6, 6, Fig. 5, Fig. 7 is a horizontal section on line 7 7, Fig. 5, and Fig. 8 is a detail vertical transverse section through the driving hammer on line 8, 8, Fig. 2.

Similar letters of reference indicate corresponding parts throughout the several figures.

Referring to the drawings, A represents a rectangular rest-piece the vertical member a of which rests against the outside of the side-wall of the box to be opened, and the horizontal member a of which is arranged at right angles to the vertical member and acts as a support for the tool when the same is driven in between the box-body and cover.

The horizontal member a is made tapering or wedge-shaped, and provided with an inwardly-curved recess a The forwardlytapering sides of the horizontal member a are approximately triangular in cross-section, as shown in Fig. 6. The rest-piece A is further provided at both sides of the horizontal member with upwardly-extending perforated brackets 01 for receiving a fulcrum-pin a which passes through an eye of a lever C that swings between said brackets. The'rest-piece A isfurther provided with an inclined socket a which socket is made integral with the rectangular rest-piece, and in which is placed a tubular pin Z) that is open at its lower end and closed at its upper end, said pin 6 being inserted in the socket and held in raised position by a helical spring 11 that is interposed between the lower end of the socket and the upper end of the pin, as shown clearly in Fig. The upper end of the spring-actuated pin 6 engages a recess having an abutment b at its rear-end, said recess and abutment being located at the under side of the lever C and tangential to the fulcrum, so as to hold the rest-piece at the proper angle of inclination to the inclined lever C and permit the return of the rest piece into normal position relatively to the lever C.

The lever C is provided in front of its fulcrum a with a forwardly-extending piercer or chisel member 6 which extends over the horizontal member of the rest-piece, and which is cut away at both sides so as to receive the side portions a of the rest-piece. The chisel member of the lever C is tapered from its thicker rear-end toward its frontedge and extended beyond the horizontal member a of the rest-piece so as to be inserted between the edge of the box-body and the under-side of the box-cover, and permit the driving in of the chisel member, together with the horizontal member of the rest-piece as shown in Fig. 1. The chisel-member is provided with a central tapering recess 6 which extends backwardly toward the curved recess a of the horizontal member of the rest-piece. The lever C is made of a round rod which is provided at its outermost end with a diametrical perforation it, into which is inserted a pin or screw h the nicked head of which serves as a stop for preventing the detachment from the lever C of a tubular driving hammer D, which is placed in position on the lever and provided with a handle d, in the usual manner, at its outer end, and axially in line with the screw 72 with openings h for permitting the inthe squeezing in of the skin of the hand holding the lever 0 between the lever C and the edge of the hammer is prevented. This casual injury caused by the squeezing-in action, of the box-opening tools heretofore in use, formed one of the objections to the same. The enlarged bellshaped inner end (Z of the sliding hammer forms a guard-device for pressing back the fleshy part of the hand and preventing injury to the same due -to the forward strokes of the hammer. The

outer end of the lever C is rounded off, its rounded off end abutting against the concaved inner end of the tubular portion of the hammer, while the hammer and its handle is preferably made in one integral casting. The guiding of the sliding hammer on the lever C is well known and is not claimed by me, the novel feature consisting in the enlarged bell-shaped inner end of the hammer. This improvement can also be applied to similar tools, such as nail-drivers,-nailpullers etc.

When the tool is employed for opening a box, the tapering chisel member of the lever C is inserted between the edge of the boxbody and the under-side of the cover at or near a'nail passing through the cover. The

. lever C is held by the left hand and the sliding hammer taken hold of with the right hand. A few blows are given by the hammer on the lever and thereby the chisel member driven in between the box-body and cover the tapering recess of the chisel-member sliding along the nail so as to shift slightly to one side or the other in case the nail should not be in line with the center of the chisel member. Simultaneously with the forward motion of the chisel-member, due to the strokes ofthe hammer, the vertical member of the rest-piece assumes its position on the outside of the boxbody, while the horizontal member moves inwardly with the chisel member, the tapering or wedge shape of the chisel member of the leverand horizontal member of the rest-piece imparting a lifting action to the cover and nail, as shown inFig. 1. The chisel member of the lever is then raised by pressing the handle of the sliding hammer in downward direction into the position shown in dotted lines in Fig. 1,- whereby the box-cover is quickly raised, together with the nail, by the action of the lever on the chisel-member, while the rectangular rest-piece remains firmly seated in position on the upper edge of the boxbody. The long arm of the lever, in addition to the length of the handle of the hammer, in connection with the obtuse angle of inclination of the lever and its chisel member, imparts great power to the lever and permits the exertion of considerable force on the same and the quick lifting of the cover and opening of the box or case.

The essential feature of the improved boxopener consists in the fact that the chiselmember of the lever is used as the drivingin and lifting member. This feature distinguishes the construction clearly from the box-openers heretofore in use in which the horizontal member of the rest-piece acts as the driving member, while the shorter end of the lever acts as the lifting member, being located on top of the driving or chisel member of the rest-piece. By the new arrangement both actions, the driving-in and the lifting action, are accomplished by the chisel member of the lever, the horizontal member of the rest-piece serving only for keeping the angle-piece in position on the edge of the box-body. By the chisel member of the lever extending over the horizontal member of the rest-piece, the combined entry of the chisel member and horizontal member of the rest-piece into the space between the box-body and cover, is secured and thereby the separation of the parts quickly and reliably obtained even when the tool is used by unskilled hands so that always the most effective action 0' the chisel-member and the rest member in quickly entering between the box-body and cover and in lifting off of the cover is obtained. Furthermore, the lever with its chisel-member can be made by drop forging, in one solid piece, while the rest-piece can be cast in one piece together with its socket for the supporting pin and the brackets for the fulcrum of the lever or produced by dropforging, as desired. This reduces the expense of manufacturing the box-opener, while it produces at the same time the more effective action and functioning of the same. The improved tool can also be used for quickly pulling nails with the chisel-end of the lever, also as a tool used in building operations and in a larger size for drawing the spikes of railway rails and in other applications.

Having thus described my invention, I claim as new and desire to secure by Letters Patent:

1. A box-opener comprising a rectangular rest-piece provided with a vertical member having an inclined socket and a tapering horizontal member having a curved inwardly-extending recess and upwardly-extending brackets, a lever fulcrumed to said brackets and provided with a chisel member in front of the same, said chisel member extending over and beyond the horizontal member of the rest-piece and being provided with an inwardly-tapering recess, and a spring-actuated pin located in the inclined socket of the vertical member and engaging a recess and abutment at the under-side of the lever adjacent to its fulcrum for holding the horizontal member of the rest-piece in con-- tact with the chisel member of the lever.

2. A box-opener comprising a rectangular rest-piece provided with a vertical member, having an inclined socket and a tapering horizontal member having a curved inwardly-extending recess, and upwardly extending brackets, a lever fulcrumed to said brackets and provided with a chisel member in front of the same, said chisel member extending over and beyond the horizontal member of the rest-piece and being provided with an inwardly-tapering recess, a driving hammer provided with a handle and located on the outer end of the lever, and a springactuated pin located in the inclined socket of the vertical member and engaging a recess and abutment at the under-side of the lever adjacent to its fulcrum for holding the horizontal member of the rest-piece in contact with the chisel-member of the lever.

In testimony, that I claim the foregoing as my invention, I have signed my name in presence of two subscribing witnesses.

CHARLES L. CURTIS.

Witnesses:

PAUL GOEPEL, HENRY J. SUI-IRBIER. 

